The others suddenly became very excited, some of them opening their own maps and checking out the area ahead. Cheesu caught whispers of hidden areas. Opening his own menu, he checked on his weapon. Still equipping, it would take a few more second. Fine. While it was open though...Skill Check: Search
Skill Check: Detect
Pings came back from both skills, but he was still too new to both to gain any useful information. There was going to be a large, open area ahead though.

The slime covered brick walls slowly showed more earth through gaps as they progressed, until eventually they came to a pile of rubble. Behind which, was an opening to another, smaller passage. It looked like someone had broken through the wall and tunneled through the other side. Opening his inventory, Catcher selected a torch, equipping it to his shield hand.

"Okay, careful everyone. There could be traps ahead, or a group of monsters waiting for us. Be on your guard."

Torchbearers along the line lit up, providing enough light for the stronger warriors. They had spent time practicing this over the last few days, improving their teamwork. If I had to be stuck in a game, at least I have fine company for it.

Climbing over the rubble, he ducked down to continue down the passage until it opened into a large chamber. The sight was breathtaking. In the very center lay a pile of Col and gems, and scattered throughout the room were other interesting items and armor. Jackpot! And this early in the game, too!

Silently following the crowd, Cheesu couldn't get his mind off the other passage, the main one which would have lead them all back to safety. On his arm appeared the throwing blades, finally equipped. Ahead of him, the others began to scatter, picking out likely items for themselves. But... No enemies in sight? How could it be so easy?
Running his Skill Checks again. this time a few points of interest flagged his map. The nearest one was just to the right of him...
Walking over, in a small alcove, he found a chest. Opening it's menu, Cheesu took a look inside. Cloak of the Beggar King: Take/Leave
Pretty interesting name. Taking it, he tried running Item Appraisal but the item level was too high, his skill too low. He would need to check it out again when they were in a safer location.
Turning back towards the others, he made his way towards the leader, worriedly scanning his map again. Not paying attention to his footing, he tripped over a jewel the size of a football.
Picking it up, Cheesu opened the menu on it, trying an Item Appraisal. Something within moved during the inspection, before a crack appeared, revealing two small eyes.

These items are pretty good... But I was expecting a Legendary weapon or two. Catcher laughed at the thought, greedy as it was. There were still plenty levels to go, and this would set him off to a good start. Tossing aside his torch, others followed his lead, allowing the area to be lit while leaving everyone free to access weapons.
Opening his inventory, he began equipping some of the better gear, replacing Iron for the Steel and adding a couple of pieces of extra armor. Soon he would have a full set. Pity it would take a little while longer for it to appear on him, but at least there were no enemies nearby.
Forgetting the first rule of irony, the thought had no sooner entered his mind than a long, fierce growl echoed throughout the cavern, the noise almost painful. Two glowing blue eyes appeared above, a small jet of flame bursting from a huge set of jaws. Dragon.

"Weapons ready! Get in formation!"

Looking around, Catcher saw the others were in the same predicament he was. Enjoying a fresh haul, they had all begun to switch out old weapons and armor. They were now all stuck between. It's a trap!

Eyes wide in horror, Cheesu watched as a tall man, a fearsome warrior only moments before, was caught with a full blast of flame. His health depleted, he was dead and gone before he knew it. Of the seven remaining, only one was armed, a woman still holding her spear at the ready, screaming at the sight of her friend disappearing. Cheesu already knew what she was experiencing, how numbing the shock would be. But all in the room were frozen.

<!> Alert: New Skill Acquired

The small alert didn't even register as his mouth opened in a silent shout of warning to the others. Everyone needed to get back out of the room before it was too late.

Tim is.... Gone... Dead... But how? We are invincible together... Grief poured through him, and he allowed himself to wallow for only a second. He still had people who needed him.

"Xandra, to me! Everyone else, fall behind us until your weapons are ready!"

The others hurried to obey, all apart from Taru, who remained frozen until another burst of flame consumed him. Cursing, he took the next few steps forward to stand beside Xandra, the spear-wielder in their party. The spear would not reach the dragon, and with no way to knock it down, it would continue picking them off.

But wait!

"Lad, use the throwing knives! See if you can't lure that beast down here!"

Him? Attack that thing? Was that even a serious request? Bringing up the stats of the dragon, he could see that it wasn't that high a level. Not a full grown dragon, perhaps, but it was taking out the party easily having caught them unready. Drawing a knife from it's place on his arm, a faint aiming circle appeared around the dragon. From what he remembered of dart throwing, he prepared to throw. Feeling an unusual sensation for a moment, he ignored it, before throwing. The knife landed, though barely, and the hit did nothing. Nothing but rile up the dragon, who dropped from the roof, landing among the warriors.

Letting fury boil through him, Catcher spun around, trusting his shield to appear right before his arm connected with the dragon's snout. As his sword equipped in his other hand, he prepared to strike, waiting a second longer to feel the power of the Sword Art before striking. With the added power of the attack, followed quickly by the others in his party, the dragon was knocked back.

Strike followed strike, leaving no time for thought. Whenever the dragon began to strike back, Catcher himself and Dando, the two heavy shield carriers in the party stepped in to parry and block. Their HP was getting low, but the dragon was almost finished.

Cheesu stood back, watching the fight progress. He had another knife in his hand, but was unsure whether he should try and help again. The last attack hadn't seemed to do much. He let out a silent shout as he felt claws on his leg and back. Something was on him! Scrambling about, he discovered a small head next to his, with glowing blue eyes. Doing a double take between it and the monster attacking the others, he could see the resemblance.

Turning his full attention back to the fight, realizing the little one was no threat right now, Cheesu prepared a throw. The dragon was backing away, preparing to take flight as it's HP dropped to critical. If it got back into the air, they were all finished. This time, when the strange sensation came, Cheesu threw. The blade glowed, striking the dragon this time in the eye, ending it's life.

The battle ended, with no EXP or loot of Catcher and his party. Did I really forget to add the little one to our party? Damn... He looked around though, at all that was in the room. Still, it really wasn't that much... Not nearly worth losing four of his friends, his allies.

"G-gather... Gather everything useful... Twenty percent to the party chest and we divide the rest. But let's divide it later. For now, let's get out of here and go mourn our brothers and sister."

Turning to face the boy, Catcher released a long, exhausted sigh.

"Thank you, friend."

Opening a menu, he sent the stranger a Friend Request.

"We won't ask you to share the spoils. Feel free to take anything else here you want... But if you would care to join us, we would welcome you,"

Glancing at all the new Alerts, Cheesu became glad he had changed the setting to stop pop-up messages. He shook his head at the request to join the party, but accepted the Friend Request. Maybe one day he would join them.

Looking around though, he saw nothing here he wanted to take from other grieving people. Instead, he gave a faint wave, petted the head of little dragon perched on his shoulder and turned to leave. Maybe they would meet again on the next floor.